The practice of reacting to how people behave - user behavioral analytics - isn't a new discipline. Indeed, leading fast-food joints have been using it for years to predict what they'll sell, and how much of it, based on the weather on any given day.

But applying those techniques to the information security realm is a relatively new practice, says Kurt Stammberger, chief marketing officer at security firm Fortscale. And with organizations having to defend themselves against malicious insiders, or insiders' privileged access credentials that get compromised and used by attackers, it's more important than ever to create a baseline of "normal" behavior and watch for any deviations.